Video: Palin rocked by Turkeygate

posted at 10:07 pm on November 20, 2008 by Allahpundit

Starts cute, then takes a turn at around 2:30. Pay attention to the mocking chyrons as the video rolls, which are par for the course on this network for this particular politician. They could have and should have treated this lightly, as a shared laugh at a goofy moment, but Shuster’s tone at the very end says it all.

Adding to the discomfort: Hearing the ‘Cuda repeatedly utter the word “amnesty.” Shudder.

Blowback

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and some ass will do his you tube high lights of Sarah’s follies and this will be in there showing how heartless she is..

and that will be part of the narrative.. heartless Sarah standing there while turkeys are being ruthlessly slaughtered not more than 10 feet behind her.. blah blah blah..

DaveC on November 21, 2008 at 2:42 PM

Only the dumbo PETA crowd will go for that stupid narrative. Those people already hate Palin because she hunts and fishes.

The narrative that will be pushed by the Stewart/Letterman/Colbert crowd will be that she is so stupid she didn’t know she was giving a press conference in front of turkeys being slaughtered. That was the tenor of Shuster’s barb at the end of this MSNBC segment. However, Shuster ruined his own narrative when he added the part about how Palin was informed of what was in the shot and she said, “no worries”. So, you could conclude:

A) that she was not stupid but “heartless” or at least unconcerned about turkey slaughter or at the very least didn’t think it was a big deal; or B) that she was so stupid she didn’t realize how bad it would look.

also, most of us can combat her enemies with facts from her record but she needs to learn to shape the message

Obviously, I don’t think this is a big deal. I love her for her authenticity and I love that she doesn’t think twice about having turkeys killed behind her, and I bet most of her constituents up in Alaska feel the same.

But I agree that going forward on the national stage she’s going to have to be consistent and disciplined in shaping and delivering her message, and she’ll have watch out for things like this. The time that the media spends on stuff like this in a campaign takes away from the message that the campaign wants to focus on. And lost news cycles add up.

A) that she was not stupid but “heartless” or at least unconcerned about turkey slaughter or at the very least didn’t think it was a big deal; or B) that she was so stupid she didn’t realize how bad it would look.

ramrocks on November 21, 2008 at 2:59 PM

Yes.. You can conclude that because You are a Hot Air reader :)

No argument about that.. and I personally have no argument with Her doing that interview either. It’s the perception of her that will get out.. and sadly, in today’s world, image is everything.. which is why Obama spent almost $150,000 of fake Greek columns.

No argument about that.. and I personally have no argument with Her doing that interview either. It’s the perception of her that will get out.. and sadly, in today’s world, image is everything.. which is why Obama spent almost $150,000 of fake Greek columns.

DaveC on November 21, 2008 at 3:03 PM

Maybe she thinks that if the voters don’t want to live in reality , she stays in Alaska..

in today’s world, image is everything.. which is why Obama spent almost $150,000 of fake Greek columns.

DaveC on November 21, 2008 at 3:03 PM

Let me tell you who is really to blame for this. It’s the camera person who chose to frame the shot with that guy in the picture. All he or she had to do was step to the left a little and keep her in center frame or in left frame with the door to the turkey coop in the background. The only reason to keep that guy in the shot is to make a joke of this. Either that or the cameraman is a complete idiot himself. You just don’t do that sort of thing when you are framing a shot unless you mean to do it.

So this might be another instance of the sort of mischief a hostile press corps can make.

Seriously, I don’t see anything wrong with this video at all. Funny as hell, yes, and endearing to Sarah. But I don’t see anything negative about it. What’s the big deal? Any voter who would use this as a negative against Sarah would never vote for her in the first place.

I guess I am just not “urban” enough to understand. Where do city kids think their meat comes from?

This goes back to Sarah needing to be cynical real fast about the press.. they are NOT your friend.. finding a neutral setting for her interview.

DaveC on November 21, 2008 at 3:14 PM

She actually anticipated it. She said that people who find something to criticize even about this fun little turkey pardon. See at 5:14 into the clip. The idiots who make a stink about this are just “jerks” as Sarah would say.

These are the same sort of jerks who made a stink about Reagan’s “I’ve outlawed Russia. The bombing starts in five minutes” gag when he thought his mic was off.

Take a look at Sarah from this old clip of her during her gubernatorial primary victory. The bit about sneaking in the Costco cakes cracks me up.

Seriously, I don’t see anything wrong with this video at all. Funny as hell, yes, and endearing to Sarah.

Ok, here’s the deal. A 3 minute video of Sarah Palin – who is already perceived as being south of intelligent – standing with a Starbucks cup and yammering away about Thanksgiving is par for the course. Add in a backdrop of turkeys being killed (complete with the creepy executioner) in the background and it’s comedy gold.

Again, what’s interesting is that the forced focus on what’s happening over her shoulder distracts the viewer from listening to what she actually said, which is that her state is in good fiscal shape. This is a great bit of reverse propaganda.

As I mentioned in another post, I watched this clip first on the local news page and didn’t even notice the guy in the background because I was focused on what she was saying. And it wasn’t as if there was all this blood and gore in the background. The local webpage didn’t feel the need to block out any supposed “gore” because there was none. This was an MSNBC faux story. Even they knew that they were being cutsey funny with those stupid chryons.

Again, what’s interesting is that the forced focus on what’s happening over her shoulder distracts the viewer from listening to what she actually said, which is that her state is in good fiscal shape. This is a great bit of reverse propaganda.

As I mentioned in another post, I watched this clip first on the local news page and didn’t even notice the guy in the background because I was focused on what she was saying. And it wasn’t as if there was all this blood and gore in the background. The local webpage didn’t feel the need to block out any supposed “gore” because there was none. This was an MSNBC faux story. Even they knew that they were being cutsey funny with those stupid chryons.

ramrocks on November 21, 2008 at 3:35 PM

She needs to realize that the media is not her friend and plan accordingly

we are a nation that just elect Obama as President … do you understand that? There is a huge section of the population that makes their decision on “hope” and “change”

that same population will reject a candidate because SNL said that “I can see Russia from my house”

I don’t see it that way.

Sure, it was dismaying to see Obama get elected. But you have to look at the fundamentals. A gigantic financial crisis hitting just a month before the election. A sitting two-term president from our party with a 25% approval rating. Only once since WW2 has a party managed to win three consecutive terms. The odds against McCain winning was tremendous. No matter who the Democrats nominated, they would have won. Voters this year wanted to punish the incumbent party. End of story.

Seeing a turkey killed in the background of a local TV interview will not make an independent voter decide to vote against Palin 4 or 8 years from now.

Sure, it was dismaying to see Obama get elected. But you have to look at the fundamentals. A gigantic financial crisis hitting just a month before the election. A sitting two-term president from our party with a 25% approval rating. Only once since WW2 has a party managed to win three consecutive terms. The odds against McCain winning was tremendous. No matter who the Democrats nominated, they would have won. Voters this year wanted to punish the incumbent party. End of story.

Seeing a turkey killed in the background of a local TV interview will not make an independent voter decide to vote against Palin 4 or 8 years from now.

Norwegian on November 21, 2008 at 3:40 PM

I have already acknowledged that the cards were stacked against McCain

but what exactly did Obama do, even in the primaries, to show that he could be president … besides “hope” and “change” … he was an empty suit pushed over the top by an empty electorate

and nobody is saying that THIS turkey thing will matter … but if the only news coverage of Palin over the next 4 or 8 years is stuff like this … then she will be badly damaged

she needs to get out there … give a weekly radio address, go on tv shows, speaking tours, write columns, books

Additionally, with the way the economy is really going to tank with the ”o” , harry and nancy in charge…
People might need to learn how to do this….

jerrytbg on November 21, 2008 at 3:38 PM

Pets or Meat!

Actually, with the economy tanking, people might take a second glance at a governor who successfully steers her state through a potential economic catastrophe.

People didn’t vote for Obama because they believed all the nonsense the media told them about Palin. They voted for Obama because they believed that he would be better for the economy. I realize that sounds crazy, but Obama flooded the airways with ads that made him sound positively Reaganesque in fiscal responsibility. McCain had no money to run ads to counter this. We were grossly outspent in this election. It was the most one sided election we’ve ever seen in terms of spending. It’s a miracle that as many people voted for McCain as they did, and most of the ones who did voted more for Palin than McCain. Imagine what this woman could do when she is ready with her own message and has the money to really run a campaign in 50 states. Yeah, she’ll be good.

she needs to get out there … give a weekly radio address, go on tv shows, speaking tours, write columns, books

joey24007 on November 21, 2008 at 3:44 PM

She needs to do an excellent job running her state. She needs to finish that gas pipeline deal to the point where they’re actually laying the pipes. She probably needs to get herself re-elected and serve out a second term. She then needs to run for the big job. I’m one of the few who think that 2016 is her year. Unless Obama is an unmitigated disaster, she shouldn’t run against him. It’s difficult to unseat an incumbent — particularly one who is literally being worshipped by the press. Bush won re-election with an approval rating under 50%. But, as I’ve said before, Palin has impeccable political instincts. If she thinks she can win, she’ll run.

She needs to do an excellent job running her state. She needs to finish that gas pipeline deal to the point where they’re actually laying the pipes. She probably needs to get herself re-elected and serve out a second term.

and she does all of that and because the media will A. continue to destroy her or B. ignore her

I’m with you on 2016. I would add that I think the extra time will be needed to build a great team and get the policy study that she needs because she’s so far removed geographically from the best national people(Not many of the really good people would want to move up there I don’t think. It’s really far way, and it’s frickin’ cold too).

or people will remember “I can see Russia from my house” and “turkeys”

joey24007 on November 21, 2008 at 3:57 PM

Joey, we ought to make a documentary. They had videographers following the campaign. I think one of them was Meghan McCain’s friend. They must have tons of footage. I wonder if anyone has considered raising money for a “Journeys With George” type project that would be a sort “Who is Sarah Palin”. I’d love to work on something like that. Hmmm.

I say roadtrip to the turkey farm….let’s invite the entire nest of MSNBC pansies to come along and give them a tour…..yes, stick your head in that funnel. You can see Obama in his jeans again! Promise.

Joey, we ought to make a documentary. They had videographers following the campaign. I think one of them was Meghan McCain’s friend. They must have tons of footage. I wonder if anyone has considered raising money for a “Journeys With George” type project that would be a sort “Who is Sarah Palin”. I’d love to work on something like that. Hmmm.

ramrocks on November 21, 2008 at 4:03 PM

lol … well we get to see the real Palin every time she has given an interview since the election, without the McCain people around her

but like I said … if the interview, for whatever reason, is clouded by a turkey … then she will never get a word in

That’s just the begining…you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
They will do everything in their power to distroy her…She is a threat to the left…
When things go south, really south, for the “o” the media will give little tidbits, manipulated to make her look bad….
“Aren’t you glad she’s not in charge,” will be the headline…

I’m sorry. You just have to laugh. Her handlers should get the same treatment as the turkeys. And if she didn’t have “handlers” and wasn’t savvy enough to pick a better camera angle for that interview, than my opinion of her just dropped from 99 to 98. Can’t wait for the video of her gutting a caribou or smacking salmon heads against the side of their boat.

I think you took a tangent to his main point, that there are too many people who don’t care or are too under-educated.

While I agree with his premise, there is a finer, more relevant distinction. There are too few critical thinking skills to go around in the under 40 population of this country. I’m not saying all who are in these ages (which includes me by the way) are deficient, but the numbers of people who fit this bill is inversely proportional with age. Some of this is natural, but not all.

Liberalism only grows in popularity if those being served are too dumbed down to think about the ramifications of policies. The best way I can explain this is by anecdote. When I was teaching high school, I was a real pain to many of my students because I was never about the right answer. Process and thinking was important, algebra and chemistry were my vehicles. It was an extremely frustrating effort to say the least, but I concluded that there were six factors that drove the lack of success.

1) Lack of student desire
2) Lack of student abstract logic
3) Changing the requirement for Biology to the 9th grade, placing many 10th graders in chemistry
4) Changing requirements for algebra 2 being taken prior to or concurrently enrolled with chemistry.
5) Removal of studying anything in biology that would help build critical thinking, such as taxonomy. (Almost all of the class is about DNA, Enzymes, cell structure…)
6) If the student breathed the word college around a counselor, they ended up in chemistry, ready for it or not. (As if it really helps get into college when you got a D in chemistry)

And these are just the common factors that I could identify immediately prior to entering my classroom. I’m sure there are far more than I identified. The end result was an inability to look at events, data, or life in general and see the relationships between them. Too many of my student thought Google removed the requirement for learning. Unfortunately Google-Fu only works if you actually know what you’re looking at.

My point is that there is a fundamental problem with this country when more people “know” that Sarah Palin said she could see Russia from her house, than could pass the citizenship test that legal immigrants are required to pass.

Americans in general place far too much value on entertainment and not thinking.

Even those who have been critical of Gov. Palin, such as Kathleen Parker, a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group, concede that the media is harder on women.

“We want to talk about their hair and their clothes and we just apply a different standard, something we should try to check,” says Ms. Parker, adding that after reviewing the “Sexism Sells, But We’re Not Buying It” video, she was stunned at how pervasive the personal and sexist commentary was.”

“The media should focus more on legitimate political commentary and we probably should leave women’s legs out of it,” says Ms. Parker.

Says the woman that wrote an entire column about McCain picking Palin because he was hot for her…

Meanwhile, actual news: Russia’s parliament votes to extend presidential terms from four years to six years. I’ll be waiting with baited breath to see if this gets as much attention over on MSNBC and HuffPo as the turkey “story”.

For some reason this reminded me of the photo Newsweek published of her holding a break-open, breech-loading shotgun slung over her shoulder, and some gun-illiterate dope at the LA Times wrote, “Hey, is that even the right way to hold a rifle? Can’t you shoot your foot off like that?”

Yeah I am hearing the Alaskan Radio right now…. One of her handlers was heard saying that you guys should send this clip to leno.

The staffers didn’t alert the Governor of her backgrounds

At the time she was asked if she wanted to be interview at that spot… At the time apparently no turkey killing was occurring. So Palin said no worries….

Fire her handlers before she can’t be recovered!!!!

An Era of Hate on November 21, 2008 at 6:59 PM

She has people working for her who only know small time Alaska media. They’re not up to speed with national level media games. She’s still functioning as if she is just “Sarah from Alaska” instead of “Sarah Palin who could one day be president”.

She has people working for her who only know small time Alaska media. They’re not up to speed with national level media games. She’s still functioning as if she is just “Sarah from Alaska” instead of “Sarah Palin who could one day be president”.

Yeah, she needs to hire better staff, and not just the PR people either. A big part of the whole Troopergate and Yahoo email thing was staff who didn’t understand how to keep things separate and protect her from that kind of stuff. Most of them are loyal, but all that could have been avoided if some of her staff knew what the hell they were doing. I know they’re her friends, but she needs to get some people in there who play at a higher level.

Late addition: A Palin spokesman tells “Entertainment Tonight”: “The [Alaska] governor did not know it was going on behind her.” Palin’s spokesperson tells “ET” the bird butchering wasn’t going on when the shot was set up, and a cameraman “ignored” the governor’s staff’s request to remove the graphic sight once cameras were rolling. “We’re unhappy about it, and the station is not happy either,” Palin’s rep tells “ET,” adding, “this was an attempt to lighten up and do something noncontroversial.”

Late addition: A Palin spokesman tells “Entertainment Tonight”: “The [Alaska] governor did not know it was going on behind her.” Palin’s spokesperson tells “ET” the bird butchering wasn’t going on when the shot was set up, and a cameraman “ignored” the governor’s staff’s request to remove the graphic sight once cameras were rolling. “We’re unhappy about it, and the station is not happy either,” Palin’s rep tells “ET,” adding, “this was an attempt to lighten up and do something noncontroversial.”